


Closure Is A Bitch

by smokeandjollyranchers



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BUUUUUT i'm pretty sure everyone knows by now, Gen, spoilers for Molly's arc, this was already posted to tumblr but just to be safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-11 20:50:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16860085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokeandjollyranchers/pseuds/smokeandjollyranchers
Summary: In the aftermath of their attack on the Iron Shepherd, and the loss of their friend, Beau is reeling. She finds comfort in some cards and a small brown sack she had almost forgotten about. Hurt/Comfort. (Previously posted to Tumblr but with all the craziness I'm moving most of my stuff here, just to be safe)





	Closure Is A Bitch

Beau watches the half elf woman pull her robe back on, a satisfied smile on her face. She pulls her long hair over her shoulder, and it seems to fall slowly, like branches moving with the snow outside. “You sure I can’t temp you into another hour?”

“Nah. Thank you though, it was nice.” Beau rubs at her eye, ignoring the rush of emotion behind the wall she has put up in the few hours since they left Molly in that grave. The smell of the dirt fills her nostrils and she groans, covering both her eyes. “If you could just…close the door behind you, alright?”

 The woman smiles at her, pressing her lips to Beau’s forehead. “Oh my sweet girl, sorrow is nothing to hide.” Before Beau can answer her, the woman is out the door, a soft click behind her, before Beau is alone again. She’s barely able to suck in a breath before the pain in her chest beats against her ribs, and her eyes fill with tears. It’s so  _stupid!_

Flopping back on the bed, Beau tries to find peace, but she just can’t seem to find it in the silence around her. No Jester, furiously scribbling in her sketchbook, no Kiri, muttering in Zimean she copied from Caleb, there was only silence around her.

Man, she fucking  _hates_  the quiet.

Throwing the covers back, she grabs her bag, digging around for the tarot cards she pulled off Molly earlier. While her fingers are in the bag, she rubs against a small leather pouch and she pulls that out with her too. It takes her like, a few minutes, but she finally remembers it’s the Skein, and her breathing stops for a moment.

_No_ , a voice in her head implores her,  _that would be totally fucking stupid, and it probably won’t even work_

_Okay, but what if it does?_

Without waiting for an answer from her logic, or her brain, or fuckin’ Ioun even, didn’t matter, Beau poured herself a bump and she snorts the brownish powder up her nose. Immediately she feels the burn throughout her sinuses, and she swears, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Fuckin’ hell that hurts like a bitch.”

“Well, you’re not supposed to do drugs without an adult.” A voice sing-songs near her, and Beau’s breath catches in her throat. She glances to her side, and there’s Molly, his form spectral, but he’s very much Molly, spread out like the woman who just left Beau’s room, his grin wicked. “And you’re no adult love.”

She stares at him, tears running down her face and her jaw slack. “Molly-“

“By the way,” he sighs, looking over at her. “You’ve got one helluva game. Really had that pretty elf screaming there. It’s beautiful work. I’m so impressed. It’s an excellent way to  _start_  to honor my memory. You need like….five, six more people.”

“Molly I’m so-“

Molly holds up his hand, jewelry still glowing in the afterlife, silencing her. “No, you’re a trash person and I’m an asshole and we don’t owe each other anymore than that, understand? Never apologize to me, Beau. I’ve never done anything that I regret in my life. Ever.”

Beau looks over at him, a crushed look on her face. Molly winces at the look and sits up, offering her another smile. “Come on, cheer up, you’re still breathing, Caleb somehow didn’t die, Nott wasn't frozen to death, Keg didn't die, so…honestly it turned out better than we expected right?”

“I can’t believe you died.”

“Meh.” Molly shrugs, and points to the deck of cards in her hands. “The cards change sometimes. That’s just life, ironically.”

Beau wipes some tears from her face, and Molly reaches over and tweaks her nipple while she’s distracted. Instantly, she punches Molly in the face and he laughs.

Beau’s tears flow again, and Molly makes a noise in the back of his throat.

“Gods, I really didn’t think this would tear you up so badly.”

“Me either.” She admits, viciously trying to wipe the tears up again. Molly reaches for her for a second, then changes his mind and points to the cards.

“Draw three.”

“What?”

“Draw three and I’ll read them for you.”

“Didn’t you tells us this was all bullshit anyways?”

“Draw three cards you frickin’ demon.”

“Okay! Okay! God!” Beau rolls her eyes, drawing three cards from the top, and flipping them over so Molly could see them. He moves into her bubble so he can look over her shoulder, and Beau tries to ignore the smell of dirt coming off of him. 

“Okay, your first card, is the chariot.” Molly grins at her. “That’s so  _you_. Okay, so you feel like everything is a constant battle, right?”

“Yeah no shit.”

“Well, keep pushing forward alright? There’s a pay off in the end if you’re strong enough to get there, and I know you are.”

“I mean, you’re totally just making this up-“

“Your next card,” Molly says, totally speaking over her. “The hermit.”

“No, that’s Caleb.”

“Huh, you know I never realized it but he does look like my card. That’s crazy. Anyways, what you want the most right now? You just want to know what to do, and fuck if that isn’t the most Mighty Nein thing I’ve ever heard.”

“You could say that about anyone-“

“Finally,” Molly says, tapping his spectral finger against the final card. “Justice. Good card, weird you drew it.”

“You know-“

“It’s gonna be okay, Beau.” He tells her, no longer looking at the cards. “You’re gonna be okay, you’ll all be okay, I can see it in the cards.”

“How-“

“Please make sure you save them, if we don’t end up saving them then we’re just….we just wasted all this pain. Please, promise me you’ll save Yasha? She’s going to be so angry so don’t let her leave when she tries to do it. And make sure Jester knows that the cards never lied to her okay? And make sure Fjord….well can you just make Fjord uncomfortable every now and then? So he doesn’t forget me?”

“Molly how are we ever going to forget you?”

“Well, you won’t. Tragically I’ll be that man you compare yourself to for the rest of your life. I’ve ruined you Beau, forever you’ll lament the fact that you’ll never be as good as I am. And I am  _very_  good.”

Beau tries to think of something clever to say, but throws her arms around him instead. Surprisingly, his form is able to support her, and she’s able to feel the chill where he wraps his arms around her as well. “You’ll be okay, I promise. I’m here, I’m watching out for you. I'll be here."

“I’m so sorry Molly.”

"I’m not. You idiots were absolutely worth it.”

When she wakes up in the morning, her nose has bleed, her head is pounding against her skull and there’s a card flipped over on the table next to her. The Sun shines up at her, one of the few cards Beau actually knows.

_The Sun heralds an ending to difficult times, a sign to celebrate with friends and loved ones._

**Author's Note:**

> Losing Molly was a bitch, and I'm sorry to open that wound again, but I hope you enjoy! Thank you for reading!


End file.
